Digging in

This is the new cat-poo-proof sandpit in our backyard - thanks to Simon, our neighbour. He built it at his work and it has become an instant success with both Zoe and Garth, Simon and Beth's son. Both Zoe and Garth love sitting in it and can shovel sand into their respective buckets for ages. When playtime is over, the lid comes down and cats stay out. Zoe is a bit more concerned about the birds in the trees above, though, regularly pointing out "wallys" and telling them to stay away. She is incidentally wearing her favourite t-shirt by miles - the bus shirt. Actually, not so incidentally as she wears it about every other day and closely follows the washing/drying process on the days she doesn't get to wear it.

Late night out

Tuesday night we had a very late first, as I did something I managed to avoid throughout all those sleepless first couple of months: I took Zoe out for a walk in the pram - at 3 in the morning. The reason was not the spectacular blood moon of the picture, a result of a total lunar eclipse earlier that night, nor was it the subsequent full moon, even though there was a bit of howling happening. Zoe had a cold. Actually she's had a cold for at least two of the past three months, sometimes more, sometimes less severe (thanks to wet weather and child care). But that night her coughing got so bad she couldn't sleep, and of course neither could we. So after about two hours of rocking her, calming her, holding her, I decided to put her in the pram and go for a walk, hoping the gentle motion would ease her into sleep. I walked and walked, around the block, and she coughed and coughed. About an hour later she was so fatigued that she was lying in the pram with her eyes closed, but still coughed. I gave up, went back home and another 30 minutes later she finally fell asleep. Post-nasal drip, as the doctor told me the next morning; it's worse at night, as I rediscovered soon. In the meantime, we have rented a vaporiser and the moist air seems to make things a bit better. Last night she coughed for only 45 minutes.